Retribution
by Chocochino11
Summary: Tony is kidnapped and tortured by a man with a vengeance... can he survive with the help of his two fellow captives?... only rated M for chapter 5... now complete
1. Chapter 1

Tony pulled a box of Reese's Puffs off the shelf and dropped it in his cart. "Friday night, and I'm grocery shopping," he muttered. He went down the next aisle and grabbed three cans of Pringles. "I need to get a girlfriend."

His phone rang. "Yeah, DiNozzo."

"We have a case, get your butt down here." Static.

"Alrighty, Gibbs." He shut his phone and headed off for the checkout lane.

In the parking lot, he loaded his bags into the trunk. He was about to get in his car when he heard shuffling feet behind him. He turned around and saw a person. He saw something swing, and then he saw black.

"McGee, where is DiNozzo?" Gibbs strode into the bullpen, and McGee looked up from his computer.

"Uh, I don't know, boss."

"Call him and find out."

"Right." Gibbs sat in his chair as McGee quickly phoned Tony. "He's not answering boss." That earned him a look. "Right, GPS. On it."

Gibbs looked over at Tony's desk. He had called him half an hour ago. It wasn't like him to just not show up.

"GPS puts his phone and car at the Meijer downtown."

"Go get him. Ziva, you're with me. We still have a case to run." They all spread out.

Tony woke to an iron-ish taste in his mouth. He tried to move his hand to it, but found them trapped behind his back. He felt thick rope digging into his wrists, but he couldn't feel his hands at all.

His shoulders were shifted uncomfortably backward over the back of the chair he was tied to. His ankles were wrapped and roped around the chair legs as well. He licked his lips, which were split and bleeding. He could feel something warm running down the side of his neck accompanied by a pounding pain above his ear.

He opened his eyes slightly to see a room bathed in an eerie light. The lightbulb hung above the center of the room. He looked to the other three corners. One had a door; the other two held people tied to chairs as well.

To his left was a teenage boy in a white shirt and what looked like woven brown pants and suspenders. The boy had sandy hair falling in his eyes, and he was as slumped over as he could get under the circumstances.

Across from Tony was a girl, couldn't be older than 13, with pixie-cut black hair streaked green. Her cargo pants were black, as was her shirt, though it was splattered in neon paint.

He looked around for cameras, or anything like that. Finding none, he tried getting out of the chair. All that earned him was more pain in his wrists and ankles. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Friday night, and I'm tied to a chair." He took a deep breath. "Well, I guess it beats grocery shopping."

**a/n: okay, so I've never really done anything like this before, so we'll see how it goes… leave a review to tell me what you think! =)**


	2. Chapter 2

**wow i didn't think i'd update this fast… it usually takes me a few days… anywho, heres the second chapter, yay! **

"Come on, come on." Tony scraped his hand ties against the chair again. He had been doing so for what felt like hours- no luck. He looked to the two kids. They still weren't awake.

No one had come through the door yet. There was no noise except the breathing of him and the kids. He tried moving his chair closer to the door, but couldn't get his feet flat on the floor. He tried scraping it over, but that sent a burning pain through his shoulder blades.

"Okay, what now?" There was suddenly a shuffle to his left. The boy was waking.

"My head hurts," he mumbled.

"You're bleeding," Tony said. The boy looked at him.

"Where am I?"

"That is an excellent question." The boy's breathing became a bit more rapid.

"Where are Mother and Father?" His eyes darted around the room. "Elizabeth, David, Mary, Sarah? Are they alright?" He was struggling against the ropes and practically hyperventilating.

"Kid, you need to calm down, okay. I need you to take a deep breath and relax. Can you do that?" The boy complied, shakily. "Good, now can you tell me your name?"

"Eli. Eli Knepp." His eyes were focused intently on the ground.

"Eli, my name is Tony. I'm a federal agent."

"You're tied to a chair, too. Why have we been captured?"

"I don't know. But for now we just need to stay calm. I promise you we're going to get out of this."

"You should not make promises you aren't sure you can keep."

"Fine, I will get all three of us out of here. Not a promise, just a reassurance."

"Three of us?" Then Eli saw the girl. "Who is she?"

"I was hoping you would know." They were silent for a few minutes. "How old are you?"

"I am 16 years old."

"Do you always speak in complete sentences?"

"Yes, I do."

Just then the metal door swung open and a tall man walked in. Tony started his usual smooth talk. "Hi there. It's good to-"

He was cut off by a slam to his jaw. "Here's how this is gonna work, special agent DiNozzo. You are going to sit there very, very quietly. If you try any of your smart talk, someone in this room is gonna get hurt, and it's not going to be me."

Tony blinked spots from his eyes and focused on the man in front of him. "Aaron… Dorman."

"I see you remember me."

"Yeah," he studied the man. "I thought I put you away for life."

"And yet, here we are." Another slam to the jaw. He got right in Tony's face then. "I was stuck in that rat-hole for 13 years. Then I decided, why not get my revenge?"

"Your problem is with me, just let the kids go. They have nothing to do with this." This time the punch connected with his eye.

"You need to control that mouth of yours Anthony- or do you like Tony better?" Tony didn't answer. "And the kids have everything to do with this. In fact, if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be here."

Tony stole a glance at Eli; his head was hung over with his eyes closed, and he was whispering something under his breath. Dorman went over to him and put a knife to his neck.

"How about it Tony? You gonna stay quiet?" Tony remained silent.

NCISNCISNCISNCIS

McGee went up to Tony's car. He opened the trunk; the groceries- more like mounds of junk food- were stuffed in. He moved to the driver side door, which was open. The keys were on the seat alongside a cell phone. Tony's of course.

McGee pulled out his own phone and dialed Gibbs.

"What is it, McGee?"

"Tony isn't here boss. I think," he hesitated.

"Spit it out, McGee."

"I think he may have been kidnapped." He looked down. There was blood on the ground and the edge of the car door. He gulped. "I'm sure he's been kidnapped."

**ooh… what did dorman do? and how are eli and the girl related? stay tuned to find out… oh and please review, it makes me happy =)**


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean you need to give the case away? I thought you said you had it." Director Shepard stared at Gibbs.

"Well I don't have it anymore. Give it to a different team." He left her office, but she followed.

"Why exactly do you not want your team on it?"

Gibbs spun to face the director. "Because my team is one man down at the moment."'

"Who's down?" Abby's voice piped up from the bottom of the staircase. "McGee and Ziva are right down there. Though Tony hasn't been here all day. Oh my god, where's Tony? Is he ok?"

"Don't worry Abby. Tony is gonna be fine."

"How long has it been?"

"About 3 hours." He had left Jenny behind by now, and Abby followed him into the bullpen.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"I told you; you need to tell me these things." She returned Gibbs' stare. "What can I do to help?"

"We found a metal pipe at the crime scene. Could you lift some fingerprints off of it?"

"Right on it, Gibbs." She ran off to her lab.

Gibbs was as worried as she was. It was obvious that this was no accident; someone was out to get Tony.

NCISNCISNCISNCIS

"You don't shut your mouth up and you are going to be very, very dead Tony." Dorman cracked his knuckles.

"As opposed to just regular dead. There is quite a difference." Tony bit his lip as Dorman shoved his knife into Tony's leg again.

After half an hour, Tony had a black eye, bitten to the point of bleeding lips, and close to 10 stab wounds running down his left side. He'd only spoken twice. The first time was to tell Dorman not to hurt Eli, which actually ended with Eli having a rather large gash in his arm.

"I think I'll give you a break. Maybe the little brat over there will wake up." Before leaving, Dorman ripped off a piece of Eli's shirt and used it to wrap up Eli's arm.

"You ok there, kid?" Tony was breathing harder.

"My arm hurts."

"Besides that."

"You are clearly in more pain than I am." He was trying to avoid looking at Tony, who Dorman hadn't patched up.

"Did I ask about me?"

"Who the hell are you?" A new voice jumped in from the other side of the room. Both boys turned to see the girl awake, fire burning in her eyes. "What the hell is going on?"

"There's no need to swear, sweetie. You just need to cal-"

"You are not my dad, boyfriend, or brother. You cannot call me sweetie, you creeper."

"Okay, then what is your name?"

"None of your business."

"Okay, my name is Tony DiNozzo. I'm a special agent at NCIS. This is Eli. And notice that we're trapped, same as you. Now, what is your name?"

The girl was wary. "Most people call me Lily."

"Okay, Lily."

"Stop saying 'okay.' And if you try any of that baby reassurance crap I'll…" She was at a loss, just discovering she was tied very tightly to the chair. She looked at Eli. "Why the hell are you dressed so weird?"

"I am Amish." Eli stated simply.

"Again with the swearing," Tony directed at Lily. "You're only what, 10?"

"I'm 12 and a half, you moron." He almost spoke, but, "And don't tell me to calm down. How do you think I should react when I wake up tied to a chair stuck in a room with two bozos?"

"What is a 'bozo'?" Eli was blank.

"You are," Lily quipped.

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Oh yeah, I forgot, I'm talking to one of the Great Medieval."

"We are not medieval; we simply do not use modern electronics."

"That's pretty damn medieval to me."

"Lily, Eli; both of you be quiet." They turned to look at him. "We need to work together if we're going to get out of this."

"I am not working with you and the winner of the Pretty-Boy-of-the-Year competition."

"Well I'm not a big fan of you either at the moment. But we don't have any other options, now do we?"

She huffed. "Point taken." She slouched into her chair. "So what's your plan MacGyver?"

"Who is MacGyver?" Eli asked.

"What, do you live under a rock?"

"And that is enough, thank you!" Tony cut them off. "I am in enough pain right now; I don't need more from you."

Lily examined Tony for the first time. She saw all the blood and bruises. Her eyes widened. "What the he-" switching her words, "what on earth happened to you?"

"Nothing compared to what is going to happen if we don't get out of here."

"Okay," Lily looked back and forth between her new companions. "I'm listening."

"The first step is getting us untied."

"I think I'll help with that." Dorman was in the doorway. He went over to Eli and cut his hands free. "Eat up," he threw a piece of bread and a banana on each person's lap. "It's the only food you'll be getting for quite a while."

"Aren't you gonna cut our hands, Dorman?" Tony asked.

"Sure Tony." Tony hissed as a knife sliced open his palms. "Little Mr. Knepp is the only person in here who I'm helping right now."

"I'm 17." Eli said as he picked up his bread.

"I know that Eli." Dorman walked over and tilted the teenager's chin up. "In fact, you probably don't even remember the reason you're here. You were only 4. Agent DiNozzo knows why you're here."

Tony had been searching his brain for the answer. 13 years was a long time. "Eli Knepp… the little boy who saw the murder."

"Ding, ding. We have a winner." Right in Eli's face, "if you hadn't wandered away from your mommy, you wouldn't have wound up outside my door, and no one would have called 911."

"He was just a kid, Dorman." Two hard slams to the gut.

"You better eat before I start pulling your teeth Tony." And he was gone again.

"How the he- eck are we supposed to eat without our hands?" Lily was watching Tony. She had asked about the food, but she was really wondering if her new protector was still conscious. His head hung down and he drew labored breaths.

"Here," Eli bent down and untied his ankles. He left his own food on his chair and went to Lily. "I will help."

"What are you going to do; feed me? Just untie my hands."

"I watched the man commit murder. I fear he will harm you if I free you." He held the bread to her mouth and she hesitantly took a bite.

They continued like this for a few minutes, eventually moving on to the banana. The whole time both were staring at Tony. He was their only hope, and his outlook wasn't very good.

**so yeah, no real action here, but i promise it'll get better next chapter… anywho, please R&R =)**


	4. Chapter 4

**i've forgotten the first few times, so for the record i don't own ncis… also, and it seems like i have to do this in quite a few of my stories nowadays, i am not here to promote religion, i hope eli and lily's comments don't offend anyone, though i don't think they will… anywho, on with the story! **

"It's been four days, Jethro."

"I am aware of that director."

"You know that finding Tony is at the top of my priority list, but I need to run the rest of the agency as well." Gibbs turned to leave Jenny's office. "It's a kidnapping case. A marine's daughter went missing; he just reported it yesterday." She held out the case file to him. "Please Jethro."

He took the file and walked out without a word. He went to the bullpen and dropped the file on Ziva's desk. "Adenydd Beatte; went missing 5 days ago. Ziva, McGee, go talk to the parents. Find out why they waited 3 days to report it." The agents stared at their boss. "Go!" Gibbs barked.

Ziva quickly wrote down the address and they jumped up and headed to her car.

The front lawn of the Beatte household was littered with toys. There were quite a few kids running around, but they were too fast to count. A little boy ran up and shot McGee with a water gun.

"Milo!" A man ran over and picked the kid up. "That is not how we treat people. Remember the rule: you can only squirt people who have a water gun too."

"But he does have one." Milo pointed at McGee's gun. He hadn't realized that his coat wasn't pulled forward to cover it.

"Why don't you go get Jessalyn? I think she's hiding behind the shed." Milo ran off. "I'm sorry about him, he's 5. Still learning manners."

"That's quite alright sir," McGee said. "I'm Special Agent McGee and this is Officer David. We're from NCIS."

"Are you looking for Adenydd?"

"Yes, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Of course, of course, please come inside." The three of them made their way into the house, which was the exact opposite of the lawn. It was in pristine clean condition, and someone was playing piano somewhere. "My wife prides herself on keeping the house clean. She's away right now, but I don't mind taking over the upkeep."

They went to the kitchen. "Would you like some coffee or water or… we got a lot of juice."

"No thank you, Mr. Beatte." They all sat at the table and he said to call him Ron. "So what happened on Monday, Ron?"

"Well, I went to the grocery store and I left Adenydd and her brother Kato in charge. When I came back Kato said she'd run out the backyard. We haven't seen her since." He shook his head.

"And why didn't you report this until yesterday?"

"She does this a lot. She isn't very happy here, so she likes to run away sometimes. She usually goes to a friend's house, and she's usually back within a day. Two days at most."

"What do you mean, not happy here?"

"My wife and I have 8 kids. They're all adopted. We adopted Adenydd 2 years ago. She was 10. She just doesn't like it here; never has. The agency warned us she was a very troubled child."

"Is she close to any of her siblings?" Ziva took over. "Any of them might know where she went?"

"Her and Kioko and Maren share a room, but Kioko's only 3, so Maren is probably a better bet." He got up and headed down the hall. "She's in their room."

Ziva and McGee followed him to a small room that amazingly fit 3 beds, a dresser and a closet. A young blonde girl sat in front of a Disney-character-sheeted bed.

"Please Koko, just come out. I'll give you chocolate." She stood, agitated. "Dad, Kioko won't get out from under her bed."

"I want Addie. Where's Addie?" A little voice came from under the bed.

"She's just away for a while. She'll be back. And she told you not to call her Addie."

"I don't care!" The voice yelled. "Bring her back!"

McGee and Ziva stood in the doorway as Mr. Beatte went to the blonde girl. A minute later she walked over to them.

"Hello, dad said you want to talk to me." They went back to the kitchen and talked to Maren for a while, and then they left.

"None of the kids have a clue where she could be," Ziva reported to Gibbs. "She runs away frequently, but has never been gone for more than 2 days. Her father thinks she's a 'troubled child'; her siblings think she's the best sister ever. She was adopted by Ron and Emily Beatte 2 years ago, and they don't know much about her life before that."

"The point here, Officer David?"

"We have no suspects. Both parents are Marines, but neither has any enemies. Not even old high school bullies or anything. Emily was sent to sea after finishing training last month. Ron agreed to stay home and take care of the kids. He was honorably discharged last year."

"Then we have to assume this is about Adenydd." Gibbs stated. His agents looked confused. "That past no one knows about; find what's in it."

NCISNCISNCISNCIS

"You ever think that might be a trap, genius." Lily said. She was the only one still tied to her chair, and she was pretty bitter about it. Tony was trying to pick the door lock with a hairpin he found on the floor. He wasn't having much success.

"You know what they say: when life gives you lemons," the lock clicked open, but the doorknob instantly burned his hand. He stumbled back a bit.

"Yeah, you know the problem with that phrase," Lily smirked, "is that life has forgotten to give you sugar and water, so your lemonade pretty much sucks."

"And you're not helping much."

"I'm sorry I can't do more confined to my chair. Maybe if someone had let me out before I could actually do something." She shot a glare at Eli, who was sleeping against the wall. He'd stayed up for two days making sure Tony was alive, and since then he'd slept for hours on end.

He still refused to free Lily because he was afraid of Dorman, even though Dorman hadn't come in since he gave them the food.

"Just use the rest of your jacket to block the heat."

Tony looked at his shredded jacket lying on the floor. His sleeping friend had used it to patch up all his wounds while he was unconscious. Tony didn't mind; it was better than bleeding to death.

He was going to take Lily's suggestion when he heard footsteps beyond the door. He quickly dropped in his chair.

"Hello, worthless scum. How have you been?" Dorman dropped a bag on the floor. Actually, it was a blanket held like a bag, but it still had a lot of stuff in it. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long; I had a few loose ends to tie up. But now we can really spend some quality time together." He smiled and looked at Lily. "I feel bad, I've left you out."

He grabbed a shiny object from the pile and started going towards her. Tony jumped up and got an arm around Dorman's throat, but not before the object jabbed into him. He fell to the floor clutching his side; it was a taser.

Dorman went at Lily next, who screamed in pain. Eli woke with a start. He was very jumpy after lack of sleep.

"Ooh, let's play a game. I'll stop if Mr. Knepp stops me." He shocked Lily again. More screaming. Tony went for their captor again, getting the same response as before. "I said if Mr. Knepp stops me."

Tony looked at Eli, who was pressed to the wall. "Stop him then."

"I can't."

For his life (or technically Lily's), Tony couldn't figure why Eli wouldn't stop Dorman. But wait- Amish. They were pacifists. It was against Eli's religion to fight. If there was one thing he didn't stop talking about during their 4 days trapped, it was his faith in God.

Screams cut Tony's thought short. "Come on Eli, you can stop me." The boy was hyperventilating again. He glanced rapidly between Dorman and Lily. He winced when Lily shrieked.

Tony knew Eli wasn't going to move, so he inched toward the pile on the floor. The first thing he could get his hands on was a scalpel. It sliced through Dorman's back quick and easy. Quicker was the taser whipping around and slamming him in the head.

He fell and stabbed Dorman's foot as an oversized blade went through his own leg. The blade was pulled down, then out, then thrown at the wall. He grabbed his leg with his burned hands as searing pain spread. A foot connected with his ribcage and his head.

Dorman bent and whispered in Tony's ear, "this is only the beginning. I'm not killing you yet, but by the time I'm done, you're gonna wish you were dead." He left.

It was as cliché a threat as could be, but it was sincere.

Eli ran over and tried helping Tony sit up. That wasn't working too well for the injured agent, so they settled for laying him flat on the floor. The first thing he went to tending was the leg wound, which was bleeding fast and showed no signs of slowing down.

Lily's eyes were burning fire again, this time at Eli. "What the hell is your problem? Why didn't you stop him? Do you hate me that much?" She was yelling, though her voice was hoarse from screaming.

"I do not hate you Lily," focused on Tony. "I cannot fight."  
"Yeah I know, it's against your laws. But honestly, I think it would be fine to fight to keep me from being KILLED!"

"You are not dead."

"If it hadn't been for Tony jumping in I just might be."

"Tony stopped him."

"But what if he didn't?"

"But he did."

"And what if next time Tony's unconscious-"

"I'm right here," Tony was ignored.

"- are you gonna just stand there?" It was very apparent that her hands would be around Eli's throat if they could be.

"Do not create problems that have not occurred." He moved to Tony's head.

"You're right, we'll deal with my death once he kills me!"

"You are not dead!" He raised his voice for the first time, though he immediately lowered it. "God makes everything happen for a reason. I trust he-"

"So when I die, I'll die knowing that god thinks it's right. That's great reassurance, Eli!"

Tony lifted his head and hit it on the floor. Eli's brow furrowed. "Why are you causing yourself pain?

"Because it's less painful than listening to you two."

"Will you quit it with the lame jokes?" Lily slouched into her seat. Her arms and neck stung.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"Yes, jokes and laughter go perfectly with tasers and knives."

"No they don't."

"Sarcasm, Eli. It's called sarcasm." Awkward silence hung in the air yet again. That happened a lot between them. They heard a stomach grumble. "Tony, how long can a person survive without food?" She was nervous now.

"A few weeks."

"Ok.

"But we can only go about 8 days without water," he hesitated, "at most." Lily leaned her head back as Eli continued tending Tony's wounds. With 8 days at most, they had 4 days left.

**so whatcha guys think? too much, too little, just right? like the kids, hate them, they annoy you? i like hearing your opinions, so please please review! =) **


	5. Chapter 5

**hiya!... sorry it took so long for me to update… after a combination of computer crashes, writers block, and falling off my horse again I finally finished… also, from falling off my horse I have learned two things; 1. rocks are very good at hiding in dirt and appearing at the worst possible moments, and 2. typing one-handed with my off-hand is rather difficult (and annoying)… anywho, to the story! **

Dorman had Eli on drugs.

Every half hour for the past 6 hours he came in and gave Eli a shot of something. Tony wasn't sure what it was, but it made the boy delusional.

At one point he was trying to balance his chair on his head. That didn't work so well for him. Then he tried eating Tony's jacket, which Tony didn't let him do.

Tony's pain was numbing over time. He moved as little as possible after sitting up against the wall. Lily had gotten her wish; she was no longer attached to the chair. Instead, her arms were behind her with her wrists tied to the chair leg. She was very happy to be able to move again, though it was restricted; their captor had bent her leg at a very odd angle, stepped on it, and it stayed that way after. She avoided looking at it.

"Hey Tony?" She said as they watched Eli try to climb the wall.

"Yeah."

"What's your family like?" She tilted her head.

"My family?" DiNozzo thought for a minute. "I have no siblings, my mom's dead, and my dad disowned me when I was 12." He smirked. "Some family."

"So you don't have anyone?" This set Tony thinking again.

"Actually, I do." His thoughts were on Gibbs, and Ziva, and McGee. Ducky, Abby, Jimmy, even Director Shepard was in the list. "We're a different kind of family." He smiled. "What about you?"

"My parents probably don't even realize I'm gone."

"What do you mean?"

"We have like a billion kids at my house. They've never noticed me when I ran away before; they won't notice me now."

"It's been almost a week, they know you're gone." He was ignored again. Lily was now talking to herself.

"They wouldn't care even if they did notice. They hate me." She laughed. "Everyone always hates me."

"Everyone doesn't hate you." He got her attention back.

"Oh really," she countered. "I went through 36 foster homes in 4 years. Why do you think it was that many? They all sent me back. They all hated me."

"Well maybe if you were a bit nicer-"

"I was nicer when I was 7. I still am nice… sometimes. To certain people."

"People, not me and Eli, people?"

"Nothing personal." She looked at Eli. "He had his birthday here."

"Huh?"

"Eli turned 17 a few days ago," she turned to Tony. "You were unconscious."

"Really happy birthday, huh?"

"Yeah, really." She sighed. "So tell me about this, uh, 'different' family of yours."

He did. He talked for a long time about the team. He didn't even realize how long he was talking until he saw that Lily was asleep. It had been 20 minutes since she'd nodded off.

He then realized his eyes were watering, so he blinked back the tears. He missed his family. He hoped they were on their way.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

"Gibbs!" Abby spun around from her computer. Sure enough, Gibbs had just walked in, CafPow in his outstretched hand. She took it. "I finished with the metal pipe. There are fingerprints all over this thing, from two different people. The only thing from Tony on here is, uh," she hesitated, "blood. But I ran both sets of prints, and check this out."

She pulled the id up on the screen. "The first set belongs to one Aaron Dorman. The second set confused me, so I ran it again, and that was when I got the results on the rest of the blood back. There's both prints and blood from," another id came onto the screen, "Adenydd Beatte." She turned, but Gibbs was already halfway to the elevator.

"Thanks, Abbs," he called back to her. He went to the bullpen where McGee had something on the plasma.

"Boss, we think we know who has the Beatte girl." Clicking a few buttons, "she went into custody of the state before she was a year old. Reason being, her father went to jail for killing her mother. Her father-"

"Aaron Dorman." Gibbs cut him off.

"Yeah," by now, McGee wasn't too surprised when Gibbs just knew things. "He broke out of jail a month ago and went completely off the radar."

"What's his connection to DiNozzo?" McGee looked confused.

"Tony?"

"His and Adenydd's blood were both on that pipe. Why would Dorman want Tony?"

Ziva looked at the case file, and then entered a search in the computer. "Tony put him in jail, back when he was a Baltimore cop."

"Find out where Dorman lived before jail, his hangouts, his work, everything. Any place he could be right now." They split up.

Gibbs stared at the screen. It'd been 6 days since Adenydd went missing, 5 for Tony. They needed to hurry up. They needed a break in the case-- now.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Tony glanced at the door. Dorman hadn't come in for quite a while. The only one unhappy about that was Eli. He was clawing at the ground by the doorway, and his nails were bleeding already. He was in need of his drug fix, which he hadn't gotten in several hours.

When Dorman did walk in, Eli held out his arm for the shot. Getting nothing, he went back to clawing. Tony tensed- he saw a toolbox in Dorman's hand.

"Hello Tony." He dropped the box at Tony's feet. "How have you been? In pain?" Tony didn't move. "I see." He hit the back of Tony's head, and instantly Tony's mind flashed to Gibbs.

Was he looking for Tony? Was he on his way right now? Gibbs had a habit of always showing up right when he was needed.

Then Dorman pulled out a drill. Tony focused his eyes on the metal bit. It was big. He tried moving farther away, but there was nowhere to go. He was already backed into the wall. Dorman took his hand gently.

"Let's start simple, shall we?"

Tony winced and closed his eyes as the point of the drill touched his skin. His hand jerked away from the drill's bite. That angered Dorman, who pinned Tony's wrist to the ground.

This time, the drill broke skin. Tony felt it wind through his flesh. He couldn't help squirming. In fact, he was to the point of thrashing away from the pain, but Dorman's strong grip held his hand in place.

The whirring of the drill rung in his ears. The pain seemed endless and he could feel warm blood running down his hand. When the drill broke through the other side, Dorman pulled it out.

Tony only glanced at his hand, and he couldn't bear to look any longer. It was a bloody mess, with a hole in the middle.

When Dorman went to grab the other hand Tony lunged sideways. He frantically scrambled to the far corner of the room. He didn't care that his body felt like it was on fire; anything to get away. However, in a small room there aren't many places to go. Dorman was back next to him in a second.

"Tony- stay still." Dorman repeated the act on Tony's other hand.

From the doorway, Eli watched curiously as a wire was threaded through both of his friend's hands. The wire was pulled up and wound together near the agent's thumbs.

Uninterested, he turned and saw the toolbox by the wall. Eli went to it, hoping the shot he was craving was in there. Inside he dug through tools until he found a small bottle. He couldn't read the label, but it smelled like his stuff. He opened the bottle to drink from it.

"Eli!" He jumped at the sound of his name. He looked to Tony dazedly. He couldn't really see Tony's injuries, so he wasn't scared by the man's battered and bloodied appearance. Dorman came and took the bottle from Eli's grip.

"That is not yours Eli, that's alcohol. Although…" Dorman turned and went to Tony. He dumped the bottle over Tony's head. Tony cried out in pain. The alcohol was getting in his wounds and it hurt like hell. Alcohol and blood ran down his body, drenching his clothes and pooling on the floor.

As Tony struggled, Dorman gave Eli his shot. Eli happily sat on the floor and began humming.

The next item out of the toolbox was a lighter. Dorman flicked it on and held it in Tony's face. Tony turned his head away. Alcohol is flammable; this couldn't end well.

Dorman grabbed Tony's hair and slammed his head on the wall. "I said- stay still."

Dorman put the flame to Tony's cheek. It caught.

Tony writhed in pain as the flames spread down the right side of his face, making their way to his neck. The wire tore at his hands as he thrashed.

It was five minutes later that he rolled the fire out. His whole right side, from shoulders up, was raw and bleeding.

He lay on his back and tried to relax, to ignore the pain. It was impossible to do.

A few feet away, Eli rocked back and forth and quietly sang his song.

"_Now don't you laugh when the hearse goes by, _

'_cause you may be the next to die. _

_They wrap you up in bloody sheets, _

_they throw you down about 6 feet deep…"_

The tune was slow and soft. Tony somehow drifted to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wohmigod I am so sorry how long that took to update… but school started, and I'm in two plays and yearbook, plus homework, eating, sleeping, and breathing, so I haven't had much time to get on the computer… so yeah, there's my excuse… and by the way, that song eli sings, it's called "the hearse song" and no I didn't make it… it's a kids' song and the whole thing is really creepy… anywho, chapter 6! **

McGee sat with his head in his hands. His desk was covered in papers and files and Chinese take-out cartons. No one had gone home since Tony disappeared. Gibbs didn't even try to make them.

But it was hopeless. They had followed every lead they could find-- all dead ends. For the past few days they hadn't been able to do much, so McGee busied himself with re-filing everything in his desk.

Ziva occupied herself in other ways. The wall by her desk was covered in knife marks. She had used it for 'target practice.' It was more like mindless throwing by now, though.

As the knife's dull thud sounded again, Gibbs walked in. "Let's go!"

"What for?" McGee sat up. "We've checked every place connected to Dorman. He wasn't there. No one's seen him, he hasn't bought anything. He just broke out of jail and dropped completely off radar."

"We never checked his late wife's home." The two agents gave Gibbs a confused look. "Some neighbors called in saying they heard gunshots. So gear--"

Before he could finish, Ziva and McGee were already at the elevator.

"Where is the house?" Ziva asked.

"Annapolis, Maryland." Gibbs said as they got in the elevator.

"That's almost an hour away."

"Not if you drive." And he tossed her the car keys.

The usually forty minute trip to Annapolis was cut in half. McGee and Gibbs, no matter how much they were thrown around, didn't have a single complaint.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

"_Dead… dead."_

His mind couldn't even make the complete thought. The 'I wish I were' part was lost.

But it was true; the Great Tony DiNozzo had begun to wish he were dead. After 8 days of torture, he'd given up hope of Gibbs and the team finding him. He'd been lying on his back for hours, bleeding, more than halfway to being gone.

He shifted his eyes to see Eli. The boy was still rocking back and forth, now clutching his shoe, and still singing that creepy song that Tony could probably sing with him by now.

_"They wrap you up in bloody sheets,_

_they throw you down about 6 feet deep._

_Things are fine for the first few weeks,_

_And then the coffin starts to leak."_

Across the room, Lily was asleep. Or unconscious. Tony couldn't really tell. She hadn't been awake for days, which couldn't really be good either way.

Tony knew that the only reason he kept himself alive was the kids. He had promised Eli and Lily he would get them out; he intended to keep that promise, no matter what.

His eyes turned to the door when he heard footsteps. Dorman walked into the room. He only had one thing in his hand.

"Stupid cops caught my trail. Time to finish what I started." He said.

"_The cops? He has to mean Gibbs."_ Tony prayed and prayed that he meant Gibbs.

Dorman cocked the gun and aimed. Tony didn't even think about what he was doing next.

He struggled to his feet, using the wall for support. _"Six feet."_ He gauged the distance between himself and Dorman. "_Only six feet." _

Dorman's finger went to the trigger. Tony lunged.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Ziva, McGee and Gibbs were walking up the driveway to the house. Gibbs was about to tell his agents to spread out and cover the exits when they heard a gunshot from inside.

Ziva was the first one to the front door, while McGee was instructed to call for an ambulance. She kicked the door down and ran through the house, gun at the ready. Gibbs was right behind her.

They'd cleared the first and second floors when another gunshot sounded. It was down to the basement; the cluttered, incredibly difficult to walk through (or run through) basement. At the back of the maze of old furniture and decaying boxes, there was a metal door.

McGee caught up with his teammates as Gibbs yanked open the door. The scene inside was horrible.

A young girl, assumedly Adenydd Beatte, was tied to a chair leg, unconscious. Nearby, a man they knew to be Aaron Dorman was facedown, not moving or breathing, Tony passed out next to him, a gun in hand. The only conscious person was a teenage boy they didn't recognize. He was passing a shoe between his hands, singing a mangled tune, and oblivious to anything that was going on.

There was blood all over the floor, some of the walls, and all of the room's occupants. Ziva ran to Tony. Paramedics were on the site within minutes. Dorman was pronounced dead, and Adenydd, Tony and Eli were rushed to the hospital.

There, the Beatte's, the Knepp's, and the NCIS team were in the ER waiting room all night. Around 6 in the morning a doctor came to them. Only Gibbs, Mrs. Knepp, and Ron Beatte were awake. When they saw the doctor they went straight to him.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Walden." He warily made eye contact. "You may want to have a seat." They all did so. "I'm sorry, but I have some bad news."

**Oooh, cliffie, who should live? Vote in your reviews!... I'm gonna try to get the next chapter up within the next week or two, but I can't make any promises.. it all depends on how much my teachers and directors hate me this week =)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Heya!... so for this chapter let's keep in mind that I am 16 (as of last wednesday!), and know nothing about medical treatment… all I know is minimal things from House, and how to use wikipedia!... on that note, on with the story…**

Chapter 7

_Beep… beep… beep._

The sound of the monitor filled the quiet room.

_Beep… beep._

Ron Beatte slept silently on the chair by the hospital bed. His sister was downstairs with the kids, getting some dinner. The windowsill in the room was decorated with child-drawn 'Get Well' cards and a few store bought ones.

Adenydd had been in the hospital for 5 days, and Ron hadn't left the room since he was allowed in. She woke up a few times, but not too often. She had been unstable for almost 2 days after suffering a gunshot wound to her chest. The shot had missed her heart, but cracked a few ribs, one of which pierced her lung.

A nurse walked in followed by two small children. Milo and Kioko jumped on their dad's lap. He woke with a start.

"How's Addie?" They chimed. Ron gave the nurse a 'how did they get up here?' look.

"I found them wandering the floor looking for you." Nurse Anna was assigned as Adenydd's attending nurse, so the family was kind of friends with her by now.

"How's Addie?" The kids shook their father.

"Sleepy, and a little hungry," Adenydd responded herself. Her voice was a bit hoarse.

"Addie!" They ran and jumped on her bed.

"He-hey, watch the leg," she grinned.

"When are you coming home?" Milo whined.

"In a little while." Milo pouted. Kioko stretched out next to her big sister.

"I missed you, Addie."

Ron put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We all did."

She remembered something. "Where's Tony and Eli?"

"The NCIS agent and the Amish boy?" Nurse Anna asked, examining her patient's chart. Adenydd nodded. "They're down the hall."

"Are they together?"

"They were. But I believe Mr. Knepp is being transferred to the Psych Ward today."

"Psych ward?"

"You don't need to worry about that right now, sweetie."

"Is he ok?"

"He's fine, Ms. Beatte. They're both fine." Anna put the chart down.

"You're lying to me." The girl stated. "And remember, call me Lily."

"Right," Anna went to the door. "I'll be back to check on you later."

Ron looked at Lily. "Your mom's sorry she can't be here. Her ship doesn't dock for a few weeks. But she's coming as soon as possible."

Milo smiled. "Mommy's on a boat!" He made wave motions with his arms, making his little sister laugh.

"I'm hungry!" Kioko said suddenly.

"I thought you ate your dinner downstairs with Aunt Leah." Ron caught Kioko before she fell off the bed.

"No, we came up here before we ate." Milo responded.

"Dad, you and them should go get some food," Lily said. Ron tried to protest. "Really, I don't mind. You must be starving by now."

"I'll tell your aunt to come back up." He left with Milo and Kioko.

Lily looked around the room for something useful. "Just down the hall, huh." She saw a wheelchair folded up in the corner, smiled, and then realized she had a bunch of IV tubes sticking out of her arms. "Great."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Ziva stared at her sleeping partner. She hadn't slept for days, and with what was going on behind her sleep wasn't coming soon. Mr. Knepp was arguing with the doctor about Eli in some complicated German that Ziva could only understand certain bits of. Dr. Walden didn't understand it either.

McGee walked in and stood next to Ziva. "What's going on there?"

"I am not too sure."

"How's Tony doing?"

"Still has not woken up yet."

"It's been 5 days."

"He will be fine. You are not supposed to wake burn victims up anyway." Ziva assured herself more than McGee.

Tony had lost blood; a lot of blood. Way more than was healthy for him. He needed a lot of donations and he got them from McGee, Ziva, Ducky, and even Jimmy. Gibbs and Abby were the wrong blood type, so they couldn't help.

Ziva fingered the needle mark on her arm. Abby and Jimmy were sleeping on the benches outside the room. Gibbs and Ducky were downstairs getting food. They had offered to take Eli's younger siblings and probably weren't eating themselves.

"Ziva," McGee began hesitantly, "What if Tony doesn't-"

"He will!" Ziva gripped the chair arms. "It is Tony. Tony always makes it."

"How is he?" Ziva and McGee's eyes snapped to the doorway. There was Lily, in a wheelchair with two IV poles attached to it. Her leg was in a cast, her head was bandaged (much like Tony's), and she was a bit paler than usual. She wheeled herself straight to Tony's bed.

The two special agents hadn't responded yet. "How is he?" She repeated.

"We are not sure." Ziva replied.

Tony's leg, hands, arms, head, chest, shoulder and neck were bandaged. He was getting skin grafting for all of his burns, and his brain and heart activity hadn't changed much since he became stable.

Then Lily felt a hand on her head. "Li-ly," Eli said slowly. His arms were wrapped so they could no longer see the gash, the needle marks, or the gunshot wound he was too drugged up to feel when it happened. Actually, his physical wounds were pretty minimal compared to his companions. It was his mental wounds that were greatest, and those probably wouldn't heal, as the doctor was trying to explain to Eli's parents.

His other hand moved to Tony's arm. "To-ny?" He moved to the medicine cart by the wall. He was in the process of picking a needle up when Nurse Anna came in and took it from him. As soon as Eli's doctor came over, Anna went straight to Lily.

"You have your dad and aunt worried sick, Lily. You shouldn't take off like that. Especially in your condition."

"I wanted to see Tony and Eli." She slouched. "You weren't telling me anything."

Anna looked from Lily to Tony to Eli and back. Though they were three completely different people, they had their similarities. They all had hazel eyes and bandaged heads. Light skin and baggy hospital gowns.

She sighed. "You have ten minutes." She left.

"You're Lily, right?" McGee asked. Only Jimmy and Gibbs had met her yet, though Gibbs was the only one who talked to her.

"Yeah."

"How are you?"

"Oh, well I…" Lily stopped. She had a smart-aleck remark on her tongue, but decided against saying it.

"_He doesn't need that right now," _she thought. _"None of us do."_

"I'm getting better," she settled on. She looked at her two friends. "Are they?"

Ziva held Tony's hand. His condition hadn't changed. Eli hummed his song, sitting cross-legged on his bed, staring blankly at Tony.

"They will be."

The German bickering had moved into the hallway. The room was relatively quiet. Its five occupants thought of the future. Lily had lost use of her legs, at 12; Eli's mental capacity was severely diminished, he wouldn't be able to go home to the farm; Tony's injuries would not allow him to be an agent for a long while, if ever again.

Even if they were all released, life would never be the same.

**Just so you all know, next chapter will be the last… this has been a fun (and difficult) story to write, so thanx for sticking with me… well that's all for now… =)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I can't believe how long that took to write… I don't even know what's been keeping me so busy, but I gave myself a goal to update before musical rehearsals and the forensics season start… so here it is, the final chapter…**

Ziva stood outside McGee's apartment building. She didn't know if she was ready for this. It had been 8 months since Tony was released from the hospital. The doctor had said that Tony shouldn't be living alone for a while, so McGee took him in.

The rest of the team didn't really see Tony much, since they were always working and he wasn't allowed on the base. McGee kept them updated with how he was healing, but he spent so much time at the mental institution or physical therapy or the Beatte house that they couldn't see him at all.

Ziva walked into the lobby and took the stairs to McGee's floor. She was delivering good news, but she wasn't sure how Tony- no, Anthony. McGee had said he wanted to be called Anthony now. She wasn't sure how Anthony would take it.

McGee answered the door with a confused look. "Ziva, what are you doing here?" A Selena Gomez song was blasting from somewhere in the apartment.

"I have some good news for, uh, Anthony." The name felt weird on her tongue.

"Wait is that today?" His eyes widened. Selena's voice was mixing with some very loud, almost on-pitch singing back in the kitchen. "Anthony!" He called.

"You are the thunder, and I am the lightning!" He heard in response.

"DiNozzo!"

"Everything comes naturally, it comes naturally!"

McGee sighed and looked at his teammate. "He's making breakfast. I now get to have a full three course meal three times a day every single day for the past 6 months." He didn't say that too happily. "I'll just go get him."

Ziva stepped in the room and closed the door. She'd been in McGee's apartment maybe twice at most in her life. The music was suddenly turned off and she could hear her friends' voices.

"Wow McBuzz-kill. Way to throw off my groove." It didn't sound like DiNozzo had stopped busying with his dish though.

"Anthony, someone's here to see you." Ziva walked over to the kitchen doorway. Anthony, at the stove, didn't see her, and he was obviously ignoring McGee too.

"And don't forget, today is Lily and Milo's birthday party, so we need to be at the Beatte's at 3, and we need to pick Eli up from the ward on our way."

"Yeah Anthony, I remember. But there's someone here" he gently took his friend's shoulders and turned him around, "to see you."

Anthony's shocked face slowly turned to a smile. "Ziva?" He ran forward and embraced her, grinning ear to ear. "Ziva!" Holding her at arms length, "I haven't seen you in months. How've you been? How's the rest of the team? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fine, they're fine. We are all fine." She took in DiNozzo's appearance. Considering what he had looked like leaving the hospital 8 months ago, he looked great.

His brown hair had taken on a longer, scruffier look that made him seem younger. He wore jeans and an ACDC t-shirt, and there was practically no more scarring evident on his exposed face and neck. He wore wrist guards to protect and hide his hands. After quite a few surgeries he had almost full use of them back, but those scars weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

He did, however, have this sort of glow about him. This complete childlike happiness that Ziva was sure she hadn't seen in him before. "You know what today is?" She made eye contact.

"The 23rd?" It dawned on him. "Wait, has it been-"

"Time's up." She smiled. He took a step back.

"So that's today? I can…" He just couldn't seem to finish a sentence. "I'll get my coat!" He sprinted out of the kitchen, still beaming.

McGee smiled and turned to Ziva. "Hey why don't you take him up there. I'll clean up this mess and meet you guys in a little bit."

"Thank you McGee." She hugged him and met Anthony in the hall. "Let's go." He was out the door and down the hall before she could finish.

The drive up there was quiet, but not awkward quiet. More like excited quiet. Ziva tried to keep her driving a little less reckless than usual, with minimal success. Anthony didn't care. He was happily taking draws on the inhaler Ziva hadn't known he needed. Neither of them spoke, but it was a short drive anyway.

When Ziva slammed into her parking space she looked at Anthony. "You ready?" He gave a slight nod. She got out and headed for the building, then noticed he wasn't following her. He was still sitting in the car. "Anthony!" She called. "Come on." He took a deep breath, got out of the car, and ran to Ziva.

Being in the building was weird for him, as was riding in the elevator. He didn't pay attention to the fact that they weren't going to the right floor.

The doors opened and there was Abby. She embraced him immediately. "Tony! I mean Anthony!" She pulled away. "Sorry I forgot, but I'm just so excited to see you and-"

"Abby!" He cut her off. "It's ok. I'm happy to see you too." They stepped into Abby's lab. It was filled with balloons, techno music, and a giant 'Welcome Back' banner. Jimmy, Ducky, Gibbs, Director Sheppard; everyone was there to see him.

"Anthony," Ducky walked forward. He was the only one who was used to using Dinozzo's full name. "How are you feeling, my boy?"

"Good," he thought about it. "Actually, great. Really great."

"Good." Gibbs shut his phone and held out his senior field agent's badge and gun. DiNozzo slowly took them. "'Cuz we've got a case." Both men smiled, and everyone headed for the elevator McGee had exited a second ago. Abby went back into the other part of her lab. Anthony just stood there, smiling.

Everything was the way it should be. The way he liked it. The way he-

"Hey DiNozzo!" His thoughts were cut short by Gibbs' voice from the elevator. "You coming?" Anthony ran to join them. He was finally with his family, his real family.

Finally, Tony DiNozzo was home.

**There it is, hope you guys liked it… thanks to everyone who reviewed for sticking with me this long… well, till next time, bye! =)**


End file.
